Gods of the Battlefield
by VaneBledsoe
Summary: All progress stopped. Story has been shelved for now.
1. The Start of Something Terrible

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There is no such thing as total peace. Mankind, so long as the way we run it, will never come together and become one big happy family. We are too spread out, too different. But I guess I just made my argument, "we are too different," It is ideas such as those that keep us 'different' and prevent us from getting along. We don't get along because many of us say that other people should conform to our ways and those other people of course won't. That is what leads to the fighting and the war. War is a part of the human mind; without it, there is no human race. So long as we exist, there will always be war.

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Outreach, 

Chaos March

An old man was sitting in his lavish office. He was bald on the top of his head but had hair around the back and sides of his head. He wore a blue business suit and had small round spectacles sitting very close to his eyes. He had a gentle appearance, yet there was a look of stress and a slight trace of sadness played across his face.

The view outside his office window was beautiful, especially for times like these. There was a cool breeze rustling the tops of the trees, who's leaves were starting to turn gold as the season changed from summer to fall. The sky was cloudless and blue. The local traffic had quieted, and people were bustling quietly on the sidewalks.

However the man was not interested in the weather, he was staring intently at a drawing of a mech he had just sketched. It of course, was bristling with weapons, and had an overly chunky chassis. It was another one of his fanatical drawings that he would draw to relive pressure and to amuse himself. 

He crumpled the paper up and threw it a little hardly at a wastebasket stuffed to the brim with other failed creations. Nothing was reliving the stress he was feeling today. He couldn't have asked for better conditions to brighten his mood, yet nothing seemed to work.

Defeated, he sighed and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling.

A couple minutes later he was about to doze off into a restful sleep when an angry young woman burst through the door. She was a pretty, brown haired girl with green eyes; her hair flowed around her head and stopped short at her shoulders. She was gorgeous, and indeed a sight to behold, yet the Isaac Kepler did not dare to rest his eyes on his daughter, afraid her stare would reduce him to ashes. The moment she burst through the door the faint creases on his face immediately became much more apparent, and his whole face sagged into a pitiful grimace as she yelled at him.

"How could you do this?" she said incredulously, Isaac remained silent. "Don't think that I wouldn't find out! I told you not to do this!"

"Rachel…I," the old man tried to spit out a defense to the brutal assault of words.

"Oh don't even!" she shouted, "I realize you're doing this for me, but I don't want you making weapons of war, then selling them to the highest bidder! That's not what a man like you should do! You are a genius of this age, you are capable of changing this universe forever, but you are setting it in the wrong direction. You can't keep making these weapons; they will only lead to more destruction and bloodshed!" She was fuming.

Mother is dead because of advanced weapons, surely you can remember that, or are you too old to remember anything?" She said coldly. 

Isaac slowly turned his head towards his furious daughter. A look of pure pain and sorrow had overcome his face.

"I remember," he said quietly. "I saw it happen after all."

Rachel's eyes flared, "Then surely _you_ above anyone else should know how painful it is to have lost your loved one to war. What you're doing…" she paused, "You're only fueling the fire, you're only making it easier to spread war and death across the worlds. I can't stand it! 

"Your mother was a fighter," he said "she too dealt death among many people. It was her job." He said sadly.

"I never said I was proud of her," Rachel replied. And started towards the door. "Oh!" she stopped short. "I also wanted to ask you something."

The weary old man looked up at her stunned from those last words.

"Why is it that you've approved and hired Matt and Trent?" There was another fire behind her emerald green eyes.

"They seem apt enough to start on their own assignment," he said, quickly looking down again and starting another mech sketch, "they are good men and I have great faith in their skills."

"Good then, you will be satisfied to know that I have joined them." She said icily. 

Isaac jumped up at these words, "What? Rachel! Wait!" but she was gone. Disheveled and defeated he slumped back into his chair and continued sketching.

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Dropship Independent,

Mech Hold,

High orbit over Outreach,

Chaos March

A man in a white T-shirt and olive drab pants came bounding into the mech hold. He had brown hair and dark green eyes, he was tall and in his late 20's. He was waving three pieces of paper around as if they were batons. He was ecstatic; his face was shining with such radiance and optimism it made the people he passed by make their own smile. 

Reaching the other side of the mech bay he stopped in front of a battered_ Templar_. "Trent! Trent!" he yelled.

A blond haired man poked his head out of the Mechs cockpit hatch. He seemed pretty moody in contrast to the other man, he was grumbling as he looked to see who called him. "Yea? What is it Matt?" he grudged.

"You won't believe this! We got an assignment! Christ we got a 'friggin assignment!" Matt was still waving the papers around like he was about to perform some martial arts with them.

The sulky expression immediately disappeared from Trent's face and was replaced by a look of surprise and curiosity. "What? Lemme see that!"

Matt bounced up to him easily in the micro gravity. Trent grabbed the papers eagerly with oily hands. His eyes grew as the moved down the front page. After reading it through he finally said "This is for me, not for you…did you get your separate?"

"Um yea." Matt replied quickly, "Don't worry bud, were on the same contract, and in the same lance."

Trent glanced at the second page. A devilish smile spread across his face, "A license to kill…" he said. "Finally we're getting the respect we deserve."

"I know," said Matt he was beaming, "but what's better, guess who our employer is?"

Trent read through the second half of the paper and the smile vanished from his face. " Kepler Innovative Corp.? Your dad hired us?"

Matt was still smiling, "Yup, so that means that we automatically have a good reputation with his entire company and his affiliates…You know he's allied with the Wolf Dragoons and the Highlanders right?"

Trent was silent for a moment, "Yes I know that, it's your father hiring us that bothers me."

"Huh?" Matt was puzzled, "Oh! This is about Rachel! Don't worry she'll be fine with my dad from now on. Here, read that third paper."

Trent flipped to the final sheet. His eyes grew again as he scanned the black print. "She's been approved for an assignment!" he said quietly.

"Yup," Matt was beaming again, "I'm kinda proud of her, pulling all that pacifist shit then finally deciding to become a merc with us. Uh, she's on a different contract but she's a replacement pilot for our second lance."

Trent wasn't listening he was deep in thought. _He's trying to get me away from her as usual, but then she refuses to leave my side and in doing so risks her life. I really don't believe that she's given up her ideals…definitely not. What I don't get is why he's sending Matt, his only son off. Maybe he actually trusts him with me? Or maybe he's trying to get him famous…crap it all doesn't make sense. I need to talk to Rachel._

Matt knocked Trent out of his thought with a pat on the back. "So what are you working on up here?" he asked.

Grateful for a change in conversation, Trent turned back to the _Templar_ and frowned. "Oh that? I'm fixing some the circuitry in the targeting system." He said sullenly, "and not a damn tech in sight, it's not even my mech! Yet I still have to fix it."

Matt laughed, "Duty calls my friend, duty calls." And with that he jumped off the mech and 'flew' away.

Trent laughed softly himself, then put on his grimace again and disappeared into the cockpit.

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Kepler Innovative Corporation, 

Experimental Weapons Facility #3,

Outreach,

Chaos March

Three Military dressed men approached a man sitting in his office, filling out a report. He was in his mid 40's and had jet-black hair. He had a very satisfied expression on his face and appeared very friendly, unlike the three officers that had stepped into his office. 

"Welcome!" he said with a hearty voice and smile, "Welcome to Kepler Innovative, we have been expecting you, I trust your journey here was a safe one?" He offered his hand out to shake.

One of the men cleared his throat and spoke but did not accept the handshake, "Indeed, we've come to inspect the weapons we are interested in before we place a bid. You are Mr. Yuri correct?"

Mr. Yuri smiled and said, "Yes, I am Chief Engineer of this project, pleased to meet you. We will begin our demonstration shortly, please wait in that room over there until the remaining groups to arrive."

The officers exchanged disappointed looks; the leader spoke again, "Ahem, I am Captain Tirone of the Kell Hounds. What did you mean by other groups?"

"Oh! You mustn't worry about them, they are minor mercenary factions and companies, I doubt most of them will place for the starting bid. We have failed in getting the attention of the major houses, so their like is the only kind that will show." Yuri explained.

A small wave of relief came over the Kell Hound officers. "Are there any other major factions that we may need worry about?" The captain asked.

Yuri thought for a moment, "Well we do have two affiliates, the Wolf Dragoons, and the Northwind Highlanders. If you do not wish to bid then you may pledge support instead."

The three officers smiled, thanked him, now with a friendly handshake, and walked into the waiting room.

There were many groups of people in the small lobby, all talking amongst themselves and each group giving each other suspicious looks. There were many formally dressed businessmen, obviously representing some small company. There were groups of young mercs hunched over, sitting backwards in their chairs, each looking thuggish and menacing.

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Nothing we should worry about, the Captain thought. The man on his right side leaned over towards his ear, "Merely a bunch of low class Companies and mediocre pilots, they are no threat to us."

"My thoughts exactly major" the captain said, "however if these men lay witness to any of _our_ purchases I do not think we should allow them to leave this place alive. We can't have them rambling on about it; it isn't very smart these days. I'd be worried if the Dragoons or any major legion showed up. Then we would have a problem."

The major nodded solemnly; "Still, I do not believe that these men deserve death for seeking opportunity." He said, "I am aware that we have plans with this new technology, but perhaps if we forced them to be quiet instead, we could avoid suspicion that way."

The Captain's eyes narrowed, "I agree with you Orillion, however we have our orders, and our duties. Our employers wouldn't be too pleased at all if anything went wrong now would they?"

The major shook his head sullenly.

The captain smiled, "Therefore we must take every single precaution there is to make sure that nothing can go wrong, whether it means murder or not." 

Then the three officers strode to an empty corner of the lobby and awaited the beginning of the tour.

Mr. Yuri frowned as he turned of the holo-vid of their conversation. He sighed and said, "Ms. Rachel will not be pleased." Returned to filling out his report.

Three hours later every company arrived, and Mr. Yuri walked into the lobby. "Welcome all of you," he said, "I am Chief Engineer Hoshiro Yuri. I apologize for the wait but now that everyone is here we may get underway." He paused before continuing, "First however I want to go over some rules."

The members of his audience exchanged perturbed and impatient looks. The last thing they wanted now was a sermon on why they should keep inside the boundaries or why they should stick together. They weren't here on a school field trip.

"First thing I want to make clear is that nothing you see or hear is to travel beyond these walls or beyond your companies." He said firmly. "Second thing is if you are not able to make the lowest bid on the lowest item, you are to leave immediately." 

People exchanged nervous looks, one member of some shady looking mercs piped up, "And what's the lowest price?" he said.

Mr. Yuri smiled, "The starting bid for the designs of the cheapest light class mech is at 30,000,000 C-Bills."

Six entire groups stood up and left without word or question. A few however, like the shady merc, wouldn't go quietly. 

"That's INSANE!" he bellowed, "For a light mech? What the hell kind of scheme are you running here?" A few other groups have stood up in agreement.

Mr. Yuri glanced at Captain Tirone, who was making a few notes on a data pad. His eyes met his own. _"You shall not harm these people. They haven't seen anything."_ His eyes seemed to say. The captain smiled and his eyes glimmered in reply, _"That is not for me to decide Mr. Yuri, perhaps they will be spared, perhaps they will not."_

Mr. Yuri's face sagged slightly before continuing, "Gentlemen, gentlemen, I remind you that this is the newest and most advanced line of technology, there is no scheme. Please leave the room if you cannot compete for the bid."

Reluctantly, the groups left, muttering profane words and phrases as they exited. Major Orillion was surprised at how much it had narrowed down the numbers of competitors. He was pleased.

"Very well then," Mr. Yuri said. "If you will all please follow me we will begin the tour." 

Grr, kind of messy isn't it? I've never been very good at these multi thread stories but I thought id try one out. I can only get better if I actually try and practice right? Anyway this is the first chapter of my new story. It is very, _very_ messy. I will try and give the specs on this new tech in later episodes but I doubt it will sound physically possible to all you BT junkies out there. Just tell me if I'm heading in the wrong direction and I'll try to fix it. All of my writing abilities draw more towards the drama (which I'm not to good at either), and if I want to create a good Mech Warrior story then I want to include a bit of the BT that puts it soundly into the category. Keep the reviews coming (or in my case) tips and advice. ^-^

Thanks a bunch,

Shank

Lead…tastes great, less filling.


	2. Weapons of Mass Destruction

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The gods? Now that's a silly question, well I guess it makes good argument, but it is still…silly. Sure there's all those gods of Greek Mythology right? Lets start with them then. There's Zeus, god of thunder and lightning, the air and birds; he is king of the gods. The almighty ruler I suppose. There's Apollo, my personal favorite, God of the sun and of archery, Prince of Olympia right? Oh and don't forget his twin sister Artemis, goddess of the Moon and healing. There's Mars, the god of war. I don't know his Greek name, but he's pretty good too. There's um…Poseidon, god of the water and high seas. Oh and Atlas too, the guy who holds the sky or Earth on his very shoulders. Well, what about them? I know that before the Christian god on Terra, people prayed to these gods. They prayed to them for wealth and prosperity, but they also prayed to these gods to beat their enemies of war too right? I guess we created our gods because we wanted to…because we wanted something to believe in. Or perhaps we made them for a just reason to start war or explain all of the natural disasters that would occur. We would pray to gods to forgive 'sins', we would pray so we could fulfill our greedy purposes. We are indeed selfish people, asking supernatural beings that don't even exist to fulfill our wishes of riches, health, and victory…Of course I don't believe in the Gods of the Battlefield, but hey people can believe what they want to believe. It's not my place to tell them otherwise.

-Anonymous citizen of Solaris VII. Interviewed by Dan Swanson, Comstar Reporter. 

The members of the lobby pushed out of the small room and into the wide open mech hanger. All were eager to see this cutting edge tech that was apparently so good, that it would cost way more than an entire lance of _Atlases._

Mr. Yuri had put on the charm of a perfect salesman when he had first appeared to them, now he was feeling slightly nervous now that the real tour was in progress. Nonetheless he led them on to the Experimental Weapons section.

The group walked to a corner of the hanger where there were countless contraptions and machines were on tables. There were techs and scientists buzzing around these like bees over honey.

Orillion spotted a device that looked like a grenade, yet when the scientist pulled the tab; he found a pack of cigarettes inside. Apparently the scientist was as puzzled as he was, Orillion understood when the scientist turned to a tech and started bellowing at him. Orillion shook his head amusedly and walked on with the group.

They now approached what looked like a shooting range with a line of weapons arranged in each stall. They approached the first one. Orllion looked at the label attached to it; it read _'RAILGUN RG-2.'_

Mr. Yuri stopped and mad sure everyone had a clear view before proceeding. "This is the Rail Gun," he said, "The design is basically the original firing system for a gauss rifle. This model however, is slightly different."

He gathered the looks of interest and confusion. "The Gauss rifle uses rail gun technology and magnets to fling a metal projectile over far distances, and super high speeds. After firing a Gauss rifle, you can see its spiraling trail and streamline fade. This model, is just the Rail Gun system." he paused to take a breath.

"It is a beam weapon like a laser…Here, observe what happens." He took the giant gun in his arms and pointed it down the range at a row of titanium slabs, or so Orillion thought, for as soon as the weapon was fired, you could see through a good sized hole clear to the opposite side of the range."

Gasps and murmurs arose inside the audience. Orillion was wide-eyed, he saw what it clearly, the Railgun had shot through at least 20 solid titanium boards. 

"As you may have witnessed…" Mr. Yuri was panting under the weight of the gun and struggled to get it back onto the table. "The beam was very similar to that of a gauss rifle, except the corkscrewing trail is made of particles instead of cuts in the air where the projectile spun. The Railgun is capable of punching through everything that comes within its path. It can only be stopped by the environment."

The audience was silent; some were sweating just thinking about what the weapon could do. "A business man in a black, striped suite spoke, "What are the down sides? And what is the price?"

Mr. Yuri spoke with enthusiasm, finally knowing that business was being made, "The downsides can often prove fatal," he said. "First off, these are not available in wide-scale production, nor will we sell many of these. Second is its recycle time, it is very, very long compared to a conventional laser. The recharge time lasts approximately thirty seconds. Or roughly the time it takes for all the particles to dissipate."

"Thirty seconds!" Orillion said quietly to himself, Captain Tirone smiled hearing him.

"There is a mech sized version of the Rail Gun but it is not for sale, also, be aware that the Rail Gun is an extremely delicate weapon. The focusing crystal used to emit the beam is aligned to an exact calibration, only at this calibration will the weapon operate functionally." 

"What do you mean?" Tirone asked curiously, "Will it stop operating? Or will something else happen?"

"Ah…" Mr. Yuri said, "The calibration can be easily thrown off you see, by rough use, by simply dropping it, or if its been damaged. When this happens, the gun will blow up in your face and the explosion will make cut ribbons into anything within about ten feat of the gun."

"Oh and the cost for the individual gun is 7,000,000 C-Bills."

There was a furious motion of people pounding on their data pads, Captain Tirone was perhaps the only one who simply put the gun down on his purchase list, Except for maybe the business man in the striped suite, he didn't even blink while pounding in a few notes.

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We may have some competition here, he thought.

Mr. Yuri started on to the next stall where another weapon waited, along with two scientists checking items all over the exterior of the device. "Everyone, this way please." He said.

The device was a very large spherical object, at least 2 meters in diameter. It had a few spokes poking out if it at random angles, and had lights blinking all over it. Orillion didn't see the label on the object. 

As soon as the group was ready and interested Mr. Yuri began, "This is the Tripping Mine." He said. It is capable of rendering any vehicles, infantry, hovercraft, and even mechs useless on the field.

The crowd exchanged interested and disbelieving looks. Mr. Yuri elaborated, "Observe the range," he said.

Orillion and the others looked at this part of the range with interest; it had taken the appearance of a small field with a few hills. He noted a presence of a jeep and an _Awesome_ at the opposite end of the range.

"There is one of these mines buried in the center of the range. The only way to describe this to see it in action I suppose." He said.

He got the attention of one scientist who immediately picked up a RC device. As soon as he turned it on and started operating it, everyone turned their eyes onto the jeep, which was speeding down the range towards them. It stopped short of the stall and started in the other direction.

Suddenly, I giant blast came from the center of the range, but it wasn't an explosion. The jeep was now flipping and spiraling dangerously 15 meters in the air.

Orillion watched with horror as the dummy driver was thrown out like a rag doll. The jeep landed with a shattering crash.

The crowd was a mix of emotions, some smiled at what it might do, others seemed grave, and a few didn't know what to think.

"The mine," Mr. Yuri said, uses special technology that somewhat simulates…well…" he paused and looked up at the ceiling trying to think of a good example or analogy. "A geyser! Yes, yes a geyser, yet instead of poisonous water, the mine emits a wave of pure force and throws or trips anything that comes over its path."

Orillion and the others glanced at further movement on the range. The _Awesome_ had started moving down the range towards them. All of the spectators looked on with horror, as they saw no scientist with another remote control, there was a pilot in there.

"Hey wait a min-" Orillion tried to protest, but was interrupted by Mr. Yuri who raised his hand to stop him.

"Just watch." He said.

The _Awesome _came over to where the mine lay hidden; at once its right leg raised with a quick jerk and it started tilting. The pilot did his best to keep the mech upright and stuck its arm out to brace its fall, but he was too late in his actions. And the _Awesome_ fell with an audible crash. Moments later a shaky pilot stepped out of the hatch. All of them exhaled.

"Using these," Mr. Yuri said, "could easily incapacitate any encroaching forces. The force puts too much strain on the hip actuators of a mech and destroys it instantly. The price for one shipment, or the number used to cover two acres, is 9,000,000 C-Bills. Now moving on…"

They now walked over to a giant machine gun of some sort. It had six barrels though, and a massive ammo drum. Orillion guessed that it was for a mech.

"This is the Ultra Vulcan." Mr. Yuri said. "Unlike ordinary machine guns which use three or four barrels and a chain, this uses six, and fires at a rate much, much faster than the ordinary machine gun. The gun fires 300 rounds a second, which basically means you'd have two seconds of fire using the regular machine gun." 

"This ammo drum carries 90,000 rounds of depleted uranium shells. It makes it easy to punch through moderately heavy armor, and will critically damage anything they come in contact with. Oh and only a mech version is available."

Mr. Yuri stepped under a glass over hanging beside the massive gun and beckoned others to do so as well. Several techs ran up to them and hastily started passing out headsets to block out the upcoming noise. 

Soon everyone was given a good view of the Vulcan and the range, which now was holding a very thick Ferro-Fibrous sheet, as Mr. Yuri said, with a bull's-eye painted on it. As soon as they were all ready, they heard a "READY!" from a tech and "FIRE!" from Mr. Yuri.

Immediately their faces were illuminated by the small bubble of fire emitting from the end of the spinning barrels. Orillion sure that it was spinning so fast, Orillion thought they weren't spinning at all. He looked towards the target; he smiled with admiration as he saw a giant dent being made into the giant sheet. He also noticed that the dent was starting to get deeper and deeper. When it finally punched through, Mr. Yuri raised his hand at the techs telling them to stop the firing.

"I think I will skip all of the details on this, spare you the pain I suppose," He said. These are sold individually and are 10,000,000 C-bills. Now, lets move on, we don't have much time now."

The rest of the tour went pretty much the same way. They stopped at stalls containing grenades and satchels that stuck to metal surfaces, new advancements in current weapons, new types of armor, and much more.

It wasn't until they reached the mech equipment center that Orillion became really interested. They came to a table with a large piece of machinery on top of it. 

"This is the Stealth ECM suite." He said. "It creates a bubble similar to an IFF Jammer, but it makes your unit, mech, dropship, or whatever completely undetectable on normal radar scans. Well, at least until you are within two hundred meters of your enemy. I need not describe the uses of this machine. They cost 500,000 C-bills each." 

He then led them over to a table where a nuro-helmet awaited them. 

"This is an advancement on current nuro technology." Yuri said. "It makes piloting, aiming, and shooting much, much easier. It also can ease the pain of losing a limb or torso."

"The HUD is projected on the inside of the visor, as well as the target reticle, making it so that the pilot can aim the mechs weapons with a turn of his or her head. Leaving his hands free to control the trigger and torso of a mech. It also can zoom in, target, and display night vision properties. If the pilot wants to look to the left or the right of the mech, then cameras, as well as sensors on the outside of the mech will project the surrounding area on the HUD display inside the visor."

"Having the system installed cost 300,000 C-Bills, and the system itself costs 500,000 C-Bills. Now that's it for today, if everyone will accompany me back to the lobby, I can give the schedule for tomorrow."

After everyone was reseated Mr. Yuri took out a data pad, "Alright everyone, that concludes the weapons tour. However, I would like the following companies to accompany me tomorrow at 12:00:00 hours for the mech demonstration." 

He listed the names of five groups, including the Kell Hounds, and afterwards he bid everyone goodbye.

"Remember! Auctions start in two weeks!" He called after them with his hand cupped around his mouth. As soon as they all drove away, his face sunk into a little sullen mood. Whatever cheery friendly composure the man once had was gone. He turned around and started into the hanger but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw someone leaning up against the side of the entrance to the hanger. 

"We need to talk Yuri." Rachel said. 

Short….very short. I cut it off because I need to organize everything a little more carefully. Like the amateur and cheesy writer that I am, I blatantly just went out and started typing regardless of the previous threads. O well…I can only get better right…Right?

Heh heh, anyway just disregard any grammatical errors, and please see this through to the end. HOWEVER! If anything does not sound right, weapons, price of weapons and all the other physically impossible scrap, then please tell me. I'm trying to be as accurate as I can possibly be.

Shank

Lead…tastes great, less filling.


End file.
